


Flames

by rosieeexox



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angry Louis Tomlinson, Based on a One Direction Song, Light Angst, Louis Tomlinson-centric, M/M, OT5, OT5 Friendship (One Direction), One Direction One Shot, One Shot, Post-Zayn One Direction, Solo Artist Zayn Malik, Song: Flames (Zayn Malik), Technically a Zayn song but fight me, Zayn Malik & Louis Tomlinson Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:49:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22248931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosieeexox/pseuds/rosieeexox
Summary: Takes place in 2015, a few months after Zayn officially left One Direction.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne, Zayn Malik/Louis Tomlinson (bromance)
Kudos: 54





	Flames

**Author's Note:**

> honestly???????????? i dont even know lmao i was listening to flames on my way to work and had some ot5 feels for some reason (that reason is sleep deprivation) so this takes place in an alternate universe where nobody hates each other and everything works out. also this was supposed to be the quickest little thing about relating the lyrics to ot5 but whatever enjoy sorry for the feels

Harry, Louis, and Niall knock tentatively on Liam’s door. He had called them early that morning, each individually, and told them to come to his house as soon as possible. They were worried to say the least. 

“He sounded insane.” Louis mumbles, raising his hand to knock.

“Completely out of it.” Niall agreed.

Liam greets them, smiling nervously but sincere. 

“Come in!” He says cheerily, ushering them inside.

“What’s going on, Liam?” Harry asks slowly.

“Zayn released a song.”

“Oh, God.” Louis groans, earning himself a slap from Harry.

“You need to listen to it.” It’s said about as demanding as Liam can manage.

Louis rolls his eyes but sits on the couch, Harry and Niall trailing behind. 

Liam queues up the song on his laptop and presses play.

_ You better run from me, _

_ You better hit the road. _

_ You better up and leave, _

_ Don’t get too close. _

_ Cause I’m a rolling stone, _

_ And I keep rolling on- _

Louis leans forward to hit pause. “Very catchy, good for him.”

Now it’s Liam’s turn to roll his eyes. “Can you just listen?” Louis gestures to the laptop. “The whole thing.” Louis sighs and leans back on the couch, motioning for Liam to continue,

_ You better run from me, _

_ Before I take your soul. _

Louis raises his eyebrow at that, Niall smirks at him.

_ If I go, let me go. _

_ Don’t you follow me, let me go. _

_ I will let you down, let me go. _

_ Even if your heart can’t take it, _

_ Light me up in flames, _

_ Light me up in… _

Louis feels it, then, why Liam was so frantic on the phone. It almost seems like…

“Is this supposed to be about us?” Niall asks over the dancey instrumental.

Liam gives him a pointed look.

_ You better run from me, _

_ You better say goodbye. _

_ And even if I plead, _

_ Don’t waste your time. _

Louis sneaks a look at Liam as the verse continues. His eyes are focused very hard on the ground.  __

_ Cause I’m a broken home, _

_ You’re better off alone. _

_ You better run from me, _

_ Before I take your soul. _

Niall shifts uncomfortably, causing Louis to realize how absolutely still Harry has been sitting since the song started.

The chorus starts up again and Louis starts putting the pieces together. All the hushed phone calls in the middle of the night, the journal entries Louis wasn’t allowed to see.

_ If I go, let me go. _

_ Don’t you follow me, let me go. _

_ I will let you down, let me go. _

_ Even if your heart can’t take it, _

_ Light me up in flames, _

_ Light me up in… _

The song fades and nobody says a word. The song starts to play again and it’s Harry, surprisingly, who reaches forward to pause it.

“Louis…” He starts.

“Did you fucking write this?”

Liam’s eyes widen.

“I helped.” Harry shrugs, eyes trained on the floor.

“Why?!” Louis seems to be the only one upset about this. Niall is staring at Liam, who’s staring at Harry, who’s staring at Louis. Everyone’s face is carefully blank, save for Louis who is very obviously enraged.

“He reached out to me, asked me to help him write a song for…” He trails off.

“For?” Liam pushes.

“Well, for all of us. But mostly you, Liam.”

Liam wordlessly leaves the living room. They hear his bedroom door close moments later. 

They don’t leave. Harry and Louis have a hushed argument in the living room while Niall raids the cabinets for a stressed-induced baking session. Niall catches bits of their argument; Louis is mad that Harry hid it from him, Harry is sorry, Louis doesn’t care. Niall starts to tune them out once Louis starts listing all the ways Harry is going to make it up to him. He had enough of that on tour, doesn’t need to hear it ever again.

They find Niall in the kitchen a few minutes later.

“He’s blasting The Fray, we should probably do something.”

“I’m baking a cake.”

Harry gives him a thumbs up, Louis rolls his eyes and pulls out his phone.

“What are you doing?” Niall asks suspiciously.

“Texting Zayn, obviously.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Lou.”

Louis’ phone chimes.

“Too bad, he’s on his way over.”

Niall groans. “I’m baking another cake.”

“Should we tell Liam?” Harry whispers.

Louis gives him a pointed look.

Zayn arrives 45 minutes later. Harry answers the door and Louis scoffs from the couch when Zayn pulls him in for a hug. Harry scowls at him and Louis has the decency to look somewhat apologetic. Zayn pulls Niall into a hug next and Louis can practically hear the leather of Zayn’s jacket protesting how hard Niall is squeezing him. Zayn looks to Louis next. Louis, who is still sitting on the couch. Louis, who is showing no intention of getting up, especially not to hug Zayn. 

They never talk about it, but Louis took Zayn leaving the hardest. Even Liam was able to handle it in a healthy way. Louis, though, got trashed and ranted about what a terrible person Zayn was and how much he hated him. It almost always ended with him crying and Harry carrying him home. The next morning Louis would always pretend not to remember anything. Harry still isn’t sure whether he actually doesn’t remember or not. 

“You don’t have to hug me,” Zayn says softly. “But it’s still good to see you.”

Louis shrugs and picks up the remote to turn on the TV. Harry scowls at him again but he pretends not to notice. 

Zayn makes his way to Liam’s room and enters without knocking. It makes Louis feel funny knowing it used to be a normal occurrence. The music stops abruptly. 

Louis  _ knows  _ they they had to have talked, presumably in hushed whispers, similar to how he and Harry had argued in the living room. 

Again, nobody leaves.

Zayn and Liam emerge a little over two hours later. It’s obvious Liam’s been crying, but when he enters the living room he’s smiling. He mouths a  _ Thank you.  _ at Louis, who shrugs. Liam can see through his nonchalance, but he’s in too good of a mood to point it out.

Harry sits next to Louis, who hasn’t moved from the couch. Niall sits next to Harry, creating quite the buffer for when Zayn and Liam sit, too.

“What’re we watching?” Liam asks, the happy trill of his voice is not lost on the group.

“I brought the new Avengers movie.” Zayn mentions casually, looking to Louis for a reaction. He frowns when he finds none.

“Age of Ultron? That’s awesome!” Niall jumps up to turn on the DVD player.

Harry nudges Louis. “You know you’re excited.” Louis smiles at Harry and tries to give the same smile to Zayn, but it falters.

Louis is not ashamed to admit that despite his animosity towards Zayn, he still enjoys the movie. He whoops and cheers and even accepts a tissue from Zayn when Quicksilver dies.

When the post credit scene ends, Louis gets up to eject the DVD. He puts it gently back in the case and hands it to Zayn. Harry tilts his head towards the balcony.

“Gonna go have a smoke,” Louis pauses. Harry smiles encouragingly. “You got a light?”

Zayn smiles. “You know I do.”

“And a cig?”

Zayn chuckles. “You bet.”

Louis closes the balcony door carefully and huffs out a breath. “I know I’ve been an ass.”

Zayn hands him a cigarette and shrugs.

“Like, a really huge ass. The biggest of asses.”

“Stop fishing for compliments.” Zayn says with a smirk.

Louis laughs, loudly, and just like that, he can feel the pieces of his heart fall back into place. 

They finish their cigarettes, and then smoke another one. By the time they go back inside, the rest of the boys are well into the cake Niall baked. 

“Saved you a piece, Lou.” Harry beams.

They spend the majority of the night hanging out, drinking, eating, and catching each other up on what they missed. Mostly, Zayn fills them in on his new songs that he’s working on, plays them a couple demos. Harry shows him some of the songs for their next album. Their last album, they tell him.

Eventually everyone clears out, leaving Zayn and Liam behind at the house. Louis eyes them knowingly before he leaves.

Zayn might have left the band, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still friends. Louis assures him of this every time they talk, and Zayn confirms it. And if Louis gets a flame tattoo, it’s nobody’s business.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks!!!!! sorry!!!!!! kudos?


End file.
